The Lost Daughter (2021)
Country: GR/GB/ISR/US
Technical: col/1.66:1 121m
Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Cast: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris, Peter Sarsgaard
Synopsis:
A professor of comparative literature takes a holiday on a Greek island out of season, where her interactions with a group of locals and their American relations cause her to ruminate on her own former inadequacies as a mother.
Review:
Elena Ferrante's novel about the tension between selfhood and motherhood is given a suitably intimate mise en scène in this directorial début, with ill-composed handheld close-ups and natural lighting even at night. Flashbacks cause the pace to flag, however, and Colman's twitchy mannerisms begin to grate. At times one is unsure whether her erratic behaviour is due to the sexual envy of a middle-aged woman or a regression to childlike status centred around the doll. Physical stigmata and sensitivity to noise suggest retribution from above, while the closing scene on the pebbly beach (Have an orange and phone your daughter) seems unduly pat.
Country: GR/GB/ISR/US
Technical: col/1.66:1 121m
Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Cast: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris, Peter Sarsgaard
Synopsis:
A professor of comparative literature takes a holiday on a Greek island out of season, where her interactions with a group of locals and their American relations cause her to ruminate on her own former inadequacies as a mother.
Review:
Elena Ferrante's novel about the tension between selfhood and motherhood is given a suitably intimate mise en scène in this directorial début, with ill-composed handheld close-ups and natural lighting even at night. Flashbacks cause the pace to flag, however, and Colman's twitchy mannerisms begin to grate. At times one is unsure whether her erratic behaviour is due to the sexual envy of a middle-aged woman or a regression to childlike status centred around the doll. Physical stigmata and sensitivity to noise suggest retribution from above, while the closing scene on the pebbly beach (Have an orange and phone your daughter) seems unduly pat.
Country: GR/GB/ISR/US
Technical: col/1.66:1 121m
Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Cast: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris, Peter Sarsgaard
Synopsis:
A professor of comparative literature takes a holiday on a Greek island out of season, where her interactions with a group of locals and their American relations cause her to ruminate on her own former inadequacies as a mother.
Review:
Elena Ferrante's novel about the tension between selfhood and motherhood is given a suitably intimate mise en scène in this directorial début, with ill-composed handheld close-ups and natural lighting even at night. Flashbacks cause the pace to flag, however, and Colman's twitchy mannerisms begin to grate. At times one is unsure whether her erratic behaviour is due to the sexual envy of a middle-aged woman or a regression to childlike status centred around the doll. Physical stigmata and sensitivity to noise suggest retribution from above, while the closing scene on the pebbly beach (Have an orange and phone your daughter) seems unduly pat.